cow pollinater
Well-known member
We've had jerseys as family milk cows a few times in the past but switched to goats about three years ago so that my kids could be more involved. I've never had a problem with jerseys being kickers and I do walk behind a couple thousand of them a day, but they are smarter than holstiens and that does mean that you have to be kinder to them. Quirkey is how I describe them. If you can get along with quirks without losing your cool then jerseys may work for you.
I miss having five gallons of super rich milk every day, but at the same time it's overkill unless you just love the shyt out of making butter and cheese. And you do have to feed them like you love the shyt out of making butter and cheese regardless of how much you love it because they are metabolic disasters if they don't get enough to eat. They are also expensive to feed when they're dry. Even if you run them on pasture she takes the place of a beef cow.
Goats, on the other hand, are kid sized and give you a manageable amount of milk. It's not as high in butterfat as a well fed jerseys milk but it will match a poorly fed jerseys butterfat on poorer feed. When they're dry they can run on next to nothing and they are a lot more forgiving to feed changes. Nubians and Nigerian Dwarfs are a good choice for higher butterfat if you want to make cheese and the sanaans and toggenburgs are milk machines like a holstein cow.
I miss having five gallons of super rich milk every day, but at the same time it's overkill unless you just love the shyt out of making butter and cheese. And you do have to feed them like you love the shyt out of making butter and cheese regardless of how much you love it because they are metabolic disasters if they don't get enough to eat. They are also expensive to feed when they're dry. Even if you run them on pasture she takes the place of a beef cow.
Goats, on the other hand, are kid sized and give you a manageable amount of milk. It's not as high in butterfat as a well fed jerseys milk but it will match a poorly fed jerseys butterfat on poorer feed. When they're dry they can run on next to nothing and they are a lot more forgiving to feed changes. Nubians and Nigerian Dwarfs are a good choice for higher butterfat if you want to make cheese and the sanaans and toggenburgs are milk machines like a holstein cow.